The black sedan drove into a minimalist gray-and-white apartment complex in the center of the city.
The car glided down the ramp into the underground parking garage. The place was unnaturally quiet, cold white lights spreading across the polished floor.
The engine shut off.
Lu Nian’an stepped out first. The heels of her low pumps clicked crisply against the concrete, the sound echoing softly through the empty garage.
Behind her, Xia Jiuwei climbed out as well, openly curious about the unfamiliar surroundings, her gaze wandering everywhere.
Without saying much, Lu Nian’an led her straight toward a private elevator nearby.
She handed Xia Jiuwei an exclusive access card.
Xia Jiuwei’s eyes lit up immediately. Excited, she swiped it against the scanner.
—Ding.
The elevator doors slid open.
The two stepped inside.
Within the narrow elevator stood two completely different people side by side.
On one side was Lu Nian’an—dressed in a tailored suit, black hair falling neatly over her shoulders, calm and composed in a way that naturally commanded attention.
On the other side stood Xia Jiuwei—wearing a slightly worn black T-shirt and loose khaki pants, white hair brushing against her collarbone.
They looked like they belonged to completely different worlds.
And now—
they were about to live under the same roof.
The elevator rose steadily.
The floor numbers climbed one by one before finally stopping at 9.
—Ding.
The doors opened.
A warm, softly lit foyer greeted them, only a few square meters wide. The amber lighting stood in sharp contrast to the cold tones of the underground garage below.
After changing shoes, Xia Jiuwei took the initiative to swipe the card and unlock the apartment door.
Before opening it, she glanced back at Lu Nian’an, as though silently confirming something.
She pushed the door open.
The apartment itself was not particularly spacious, but it was refined, warm, and lived-in.
It felt as though the place had been waiting for her all along.
Directly across from the entrance stood a massive one-way floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the city skyline, its sea of lights stretching endlessly into the night.
In front of the glass sat a compact living area with a television and sofa, small but perfectly arranged.
The wood-pattern flooring carried a gentle warmth that softened the entire atmosphere.
The apartment extended outward in two directions.
To the right stood an open wooden partition separating the kitchen area, beyond which rested a simple dining table facing the night view.
To the left, a hallway stretched along the wall, leading toward the study, bedroom, and bathroom.
Xia Jiuwei stood quietly at the entrance instead of walking further in.
She simply looked around the room, smiling in satisfaction.
Beside her, Lu Nian’an watched that expression carefully, the corners of her lips lifting ever so slightly.
“Mia, can I have your cooking tonight?”
“Sure!” Xia Jiuwei flashed an enthusiastic OK sign before immediately crouching to rummage through her luggage for her wallet.
Guessing what she intended to do, Lu Nian’an promptly pulled out a black card she had prepared in advance.
“Use this instead. Spend whatever you want.”
Xia Jiuwei hesitated for a moment.
She accepted the card, looked up at Lu Nian’an, and broke into a grin that showed a few small white teeth.
“Then I’ll head downstairs and buy ingredients first!”
She gave a playful little gesture and turned toward the door.
The elevator descended to the first floor.
◇
Xia Jiuwei crossed the small reception lobby, swiped through the glass entrance and outer security gate, stepped outside the apartment complex.
A large supermarket chain stood only a short distance away—visible even from the apartment upstairs.
She entered the store and began gathering ingredients for dinner.
Tomatoes.
Fresh basil.
Pasta.
But halfway through shopping, her brows slowly began to knit together.
Ever since school started, she had carried a vague sense of discomfort she could never quite identify.
After inheriting the Under-Reality, her Mental Strength had risen to 3057 points, more than twenty times that of an ordinary person.
The things that once felt merely “off” had finally become clear.
Seven o’clock direction.
Roughly fifteen meters away.
Behind the liquor shelves.
That man with the mustache.
Today alone, she had already seen him three times.
The first time was when she and Lu Nian’an got into the car—he had been sitting inside a nearby restaurant.
The second time was outside the apartment building, when he casually passed in front of her.
And now—
this was the third.
Xia Jiuwei didn’t turn around.
Instead, she condensed that lingering unease into an extremely tiny shadow construct—an “Eye.”
The black eye silently opened from within her blind spot, peering into the hidden corner of her vision.
He was still there.
Watching her from the edge of sight the entire time.
The next second, the black eye collapsed silently.
But by then—
she already had her answer.
And it wasn’t just him.
Just from today alone, there had also been three separate cars rotating shifts to follow her.
A man with a ponytail.
And a freckled woman wearing glasses.
Xia Jiuwei carried the groceries out of the supermarket.
Something in her chest went cold.
“You noticed it too, didn’t you?”
Her voice lowered slightly.
There was no way Lu Nian’an—with more than seven hundred points of Mental Strength now—had failed to notice.
That dreamlike peace they had only just begun to enjoy…
might already be falling apart.
“So what if I did?” Lu Nian’an replied calmly.
“Just treat them like ordinary paparazzi.”
Of course she knew something was wrong.
These people were too clean. Too professional.
The same face almost never appeared more than five times.
But she didn’t care.
As long as she could stay beside the person in front of her, she could endure anything.
“Stop lying to yourself.” Xia Jiuwei looked at her quietly.
“They’re here because of me.”
“And this kind of surveillance… normal people would never even notice it.”
The air in the room seemed to cool all at once.
She fell silent for a moment.
And in that silence, she made her decision.
—Leave.
At the very least, she didn’t want to drag Lu Nian’an into this.
She turned to walk away.
Only for her wrist to suddenly be grabbed.
“What are you trying to do?” Lu Nian’an’s voice came out sharper than intended.
“Why are you leaving?”
Her grip tightened.
“My entire life was given back to me by you.”
“Without you, I’d still be that useless person trapped in the Under-Reality.” Her voice trembled slightly.
“You’ve already given me too much…”
“So could you—just once—rely on me instead?”
“Stop carrying everything alone, okay?”
She raised her head, her gaze painfully earnest.
“And even if something really happens… we still have the Under-Reality.”
She lifted a hand.
A hair tie vanished from her fingers—then reappeared.
“See?”
“If I’m ever in danger, I’ll go straight inside.”
“And when that happens…”
She looked at Xia Jiuwei seriously.
“You have to come find me. Okay?”
Xia Jiuwei stared at her silently.
The heavy pressure buried deep inside her chest slowly began to loosen.
And suddenly, she realized something.
Her grandfather had taught her almost everything.
How to survive.
How to fight.
How to endure.
But he had never taught her—
how to rely on someone else.
Maybe…
the reason she saved Lu Nian’an in the first place…
was because, once upon a time,
she herself had wished for someone to grab hold of her like this.
“Go take a shower.” Lu Nian’an pushed her lightly toward the bathroom.
“You’ll feel better after.”
“I’m fine. I should cook first—”
“No.” Lu Nian’an cut her off immediately.
“Go. Right now.”
After a short pause, she added teasingly:
“Or… do you want me to shower with you?”
Xia Jiuwei’s face exploded red instantly.
“N-No! I can do it myself!”
After showering—
“Um… An’an?”
“Can you bring me some clothes?”
The bathroom door cracked open slightly.
Lu Nian’an handed over a set of loungewear and fresh underwear she had prepared beforehand.
“You bought these?”
“When did you even get them?”
Instinctively, Xia Jiuwei glanced downward—from Lu Nian’an’s neck, to her collarbone… and lower.
The realization hit instantly.
Lu Nian’an’s face flushed scarlet in panic.
“W-Well, I…”
Her mind blanked completely.
For a moment, she genuinely had no idea what to say.
“Thanks.”
Xia Jiuwei narrowed her eyes slightly at her reaction before accepting the clothes with a quiet smile.
The bathroom door closed again.
And Lu Nian’an fled almost immediately, embarrassed beyond belief.
“…Looks like I really am important to her.”
Xia Jiuwei couldn’t help laughing to herself.
Completely unaware that she was actually the one being slowly won over instead.
Dinner was finished soon after.
Spaghetti Bolognese.
Cream of mushroom soup.
And fruit wine.
Outside the windows stretched the glittering city skyline.
Inside, warm light filled the apartment.
For the first time in a very long while, both of them felt something close to complete contentment.
“This one’s yours. Strawberry flavor.”
“No. That’s too childish.”
“Nope. You totally like it.”
“You’re not allowed to drink alcohol. Give me that one.”
Xia Jiuwei immediately opened Lu Nian’an’s grape-flavored fruit wine and took a sip.
“You’re only seventeen.”
“No. I’m already forty-nine now.”
“…Right.”
After a ridiculous amount of bickering, they somehow ended up exchanging drinks anyway.
And the moment they both drank from the same rim of the glass—
the atmosphere froze.
Both of them fell silent at the exact same time.
A faint blush slowly spread across their cheeks.
The two of them kept laughing and playfully bickering late into the night.
“…Going to sleep?” Lu Nian’an asked softly, sounding strangely hesitant.
“Um… there’s only one bed.”
“Sounds good.”
The instant the words left Xia Jiuwei’s mouth, both of their heartbeats sped up uncontrollably.
The lights went out.
Darkness filled the room.
But neither of them actually fell asleep.
Time passed quietly.
After what felt like forever, Lu Nian’an pretended to shift in bed before cautiously pulling Xia Jiuwei into her arms.
Her heartbeat was so fast it felt completely out of control.
“…You’re still awake, aren’t you?” Xia Jiuwei whispered softly.
There was no reply.
But the frantic pounding in Lu Nian’an’s chest had already betrayed everything.
Xia Jiuwei slowly leaned closer into her embrace.
Her body gradually relaxed.
Her breathing softened.
And before long, she drifted into a peaceful sleep.
【Bond Synchronization +3%】